🌳 An Australian tree 🫐 An edible fruit

blue fig

9.9

An Australian tree with hard white wood and small glossy blue fruit

noun

Australian

: higuera azul

The blue fig is valued for its attractive blue fruit and strong timber.

Examples

Several blue fig trees were planted along the nature reserve trail.
Birds are attracted to the blue fig when its bright fruit ripens in summer.
Many birds are attracted to the blue fig fruit.
The blue figs are ripe and ready for picking.
Birds are attracted to the blue fig when its bright fruit ripens in summer.
Several blue fig trees were planted along the nature reserve trail.
The blue fig is valued for its attractive blue fruit and strong timber.

Synonyms

silver quandong tree

vsblue fig

Australian

9.9

A tree from Australia with hard white wood, shiny green leaves, white flowers and bright blue fruit

is the same species but called by a different common name

Brisbane quandong

vsblue fig

Australian

9.9

A tree from Australia with hard white wood, shiny green leaves, white flowers, and blue fruit with one seed

is the same species but identified by a different regional or common name

Elaeocarpus grandis

vsblue fig

Specialized

9.9

An Australian tree with strong pale wood, shiny green leaves, white flowers, and blue fruit

is the same species but known by a different everyday common name

Surface Forms

blue fig singular

blue figs plural

Morphology

blue + fig

The noun phrase 'blue fig' is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: a fig (or fig-like fruit) that is blue in color, so a B1 learner who knows 'blue' and 'fig' can infer the referent. Botanical specifics (Brisbane quandong species) are incidental; the semantic composition follows a common, cross-linguistically transparent pattern.

Etymology

Blue fig comes from a simple picture: the plant makes shiny blue fruits that look like small figs. So people used blue fig to name the 'tree' that bears those blue fruits.